Sausalito to Monterey

Farewell San Francisco:

Yesterday we picked up the hire car and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and back into Sausalito to check out the little village of 400+ houseboats that occupy a vast area of Sausalito.  

The mailboxes for the floating homes in Sausalito.

(The name of Sausalito comes from the Spanish sauzalito, meaning "small willow grove", and I wonder if this is how my friend Willow got her name.)  The residents prefer "floating homes" and not houseboats apparently, a bit like splitting hairs, I reckon.

Some of the gorgeous floating homes (houseboats) in Sausalito.

From Sausalito we found our way back onto the main highway and turned off at Stinson Beach.  This is from all accounts a very beautiful and sought-after area by San Franciscans to escape the hurly burly of city life.  It is just a short distance from SF and affords a beautiful stretch of sandy coastline that sweeps north for several miles.  Unfortunately, on this day, the fog rolled in and a light drizzle was our welcome.  It certainly didn't stop many other tourists (or were they locals?) from engaging in some beach-type activities that we'd see on our beaches in the height of summer or at least warm and sunny weather.  Some very hardy or foolish types this lot.

We stopped by Muir Woods on our way out from Stinson Beach, however, we didn't leave the car, just had a quick look at some of the magnificent trees leading into the entrance gate.  It is the spring break here and there are thousands of Americans on "vacation" from various parts of the country all enjoying the west coast it seems.

Being our last night in SF, Sandy and I planned a night out at the local Thai restaurant (we haven't helped the American economy at all in this respect), however I was knackered and fell asleep in the comfy leather armchair, and Mary ended up cooking up eggs, spinach, and a little bacon and some leftover bolognaise sauce from the night before and we had another early night. 

We left a very cool San Francisco this morning; we were cleaned up, packed up and out and on the road by 9.30 am.  San Francisco was a lovely stay - 'our home' was quite cold, and although we did have central heating - we found it a bit of a challenge getting just the right temperature, with three pre or post-menopausal women "enjoying" various stages of the heat/cold spectrum!

Leaving SF, Sandy drove and I navigated - all done brilliantly till NavMan told us to go one way - the wrong way - and caused a little confusion, but not to worry, we ended up seeing some absolutely gorgeous San Franciscan homes, high on the hill around the avenues.  The Avenues are bordered on the north by Lincoln Park and the Presidio, Golden Gate Park on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west.  The homes are on individual allotments and surrounded by beautiful green lawns - manicured to within an inch of their lives.  The area is often covered in fog due to its proximity to the cold Pacific Ocean, but today it was pretty clear - it is a charming neighbourhood to drive through.

We stopped at Rockaway Beach for a coffee at Nick's.  This is the restaurant where John bussed and waited tables during his late teenage years earning sufficient money to put himself through university and enabling him to buy his home in Pacifica, so it has very special memories for us and it's a place we always visit when we are in SF, and today was no exception.

Rockaway Beach, near Pacifica, looking south.

Lorraine with Thelma and Louise at Rockaway Beach

We stopped at a (Lonely Planet recommendation) café for lunch in Santa Cruz for a bowl (for me anyway), of minestrone soup - nobody does soup like they do here.  With our tummies satisfied we headed back on the road towards Monterey.  Mr NavMan wouldn't accept the street number, and of course the street goes for miles and miles and of course, we ended up at the far end.  It turns out that the military has a base here and, "often the data from the satellites gets scrambled", according to the frontdesk man.

Thelma and Louise have gone out for a walk into town while I catch up on the blog and Skyp-ing - lovely to hear from you Pat, and JB, and Melanie, Mike and the kids.  Sorry I couldn't play cricket with you, Connor - I just couldn't get hold of that ball through the computer. How gorgeous is that?!!! Gosh, I miss them!

Happy Easter to everyone back home in Australia!